With Pakistan suffering from terrorist attacks "left, right and center," a senior Pakistani government official said Tuesday a massive military operation is underway in North Waziristan to "close the chapter" on the Haqqani network in Pakistan.

When the operation is complete, the Haqqani network will "reach a conclusion" in Pakistani territory, the official said.

A recent wave of terror attacks has claimed more than 200 lives in the last month alone, according to the official.

U.S. counterterrorism officials are closely watching an al Qaeda fighter in Pakistan who could become the next American to be targeted for killing by a drone strike, CNN has learned.

The person, who was not identified, has been the subject of debate among military commanders and intelligence officials for several weeks as they decide what to recommend. President Barack Obama would make a final decision.

Saying he feels "totally abandoned and forgotten," kidnapped U.S. government contractor Warren Weinstein called on President Barack Obama to negotiate for his freedom in a video released by al Qaeda on Christmas.

The 72-year-old Weinstein was abducted from his home in the Pakistani city of Lahore in August 2011.

In the 13-minute video provided to the Washington Post, Weinstein appeals to the President, Secretary of State John Kerry, the American media, the American public and finally his family.

"Nine years ago, I came to Pakistan to help my government and I did so at a time when most Americans would not come here," he said. "And now, when I need my government, it seems I have been totally abandoned and forgotten."
2012: Video released of American captive

This is the second video with him making a direct plea to the Obama administration. The first was released in May 2012.

A Pakistani political party official has publicly named two U.S. CIA officials in connection with a police murder investigation into a drone strike.

Police had already initiated an investigation against unnamed persons after a recent drone strike that killed five. In a televised news conference Wednesday, Shireen Mazari, information secretary for the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said she filed an addendum to the police complaint, singling out two U.S. officials.

She gave the names of U.S. CIA Director John Brennan and a person identified as the CIA's Station Chief based in Pakistan. U.S. officials did not confirm to CNN the accuracy of her claims.

"I can't speak to the alleged operational issues, but more broadly I note we have a strong ongoing dialogue with Pakistan regarding all aspects of our bilateral relationship and shared interests," a U.S. Embassy official in Pakistan told CNN.

Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud - once charged by the United States for his alleged involvement in a deadly 2009 attack on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan - was killed in a drone strike in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, senior U.S. and Pakistani officials told CNN.

Three other people were killed in the strike, Pakistani intelligence sources and tribal officials said, describing the incident as a suspected U.S. drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan's Waziristan region, a Taliban stronghold bordering Afghanistan.

One missile hit a compound, and another struck a car nearby, the Pakistani sources said.

Nabila ur-Rehman, 9, has come to Washington to talk about how she survived a U.S. drone strike on her neighborhood in Pakistan.

"I saw in the sky that it became dark, and I heard a 'dum-dum' noise. Everything became dark, and I couldn't see my grandmother, couldn't make out anything," she told CNN through an interpreter.

Nabila's family said her grandmother, Momina Bibi, was killed in that strike.

"I saw two missiles come down and hit, and at that moment, everything went dark," said Nabila's brother, Zubair, 13. "I just remember seeing an explosion and everything became dark, maybe because of the smoke from the drone."FULL POST

The State Department has evacuated most of its diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan in response to a terrorist threat against the U.S. consulate, senior State Department and other senior U.S. officials told CNN.

"We have picked up what we regard as a threat worthy of taking this action," one senior U.S. official told CNN.

The State Department issued an "ordered departure" for all of its diplomats in Lahore Thursday, except for a handful of emergency personnel. The diplomats were moved to Islamabad, the nation's capital, officials said.

A travel warning issued by the State Department said the department "ordered this drawdown due to specific threats concerning the U.S. Consulate in Lahore" and warned U.S. citizens against travel to Pakistan.

The US is looking to end drone strikes in Pakistan, Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday. Kerry told a Pakistani television station that President Barack Obama has "very real timeline".

"We hope it's going to be very very soon," according to a transcript of the interview provided by the State Department.

"I believe that we're on a good track. I think the program will end as we have eliminated most of the threat and continue to eliminate it," Kerry said. He added that the cessation depends on "a number of factors" and the US is working with the Pakistani government.

After ramping up strikes in the tribal region in the first few years of Obama's presidency, the number of drone strikes in Pakistan has dropped significantly, in part due to the deterioration of al Qaeda in the country and more focus on threats from al Qaeda groups in other countries like Yemen.

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.